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While
we were interviewing Leelee for "Here on Earth," we just
had to ask her about her upcoming project, "Squelch,"
from "Last Seduction" director John Dahl.
"My character in 'Squelch' is, like, the girl: the girl
with the boobs and the butt. The girl with the boobs and
the butt goes to college and likes photography, but she's
still a girl with boobs and butt. She's the girl, she's
the girl in the movie, she's the sexual object. But I
was happy to play that sexual object for John Dahl."
The film stars Paul Walker and Steve Zahn, and Leelee
described how her character fits into the plot.
"Paul Walker and Steve Zahn are bothers and they go on
this road trip. Paul Walker's character has had a crush
on me since he was little and he goes to pick me up from
college. But, on the way, there's this killer in this
big, big truck that ends up following him around. There's
this transistor radio that they get in Paul's car or something
and over this transistor radio they end up pretending
to be girls and they have this conversation with this
guy in the truck. This guy ends up being this really creepy
guy that ends up chasing them and following them around
and they think he's gone so then they go to pick up the
girl. Finally, they go to pick her up and the guy comes
back again and chases them around in the car and one of
her friends are kidnapped."
And this is only part of the story. Leelee said there
are more surprises and twists that she did not reveal.
She also said that the movie blends humor in with the
suspense.
"It's very, very scary and it's hysterical. Steve Zahn
was so funny. It's the perfect combination because just
when you're laughing and you're like "Oh my God, that's
so funny," then you're like "Oh shit." It's one of those
things where the minute that you relax and let down your
guard, you're scared out of your pants." |
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Working
with Dahl was a special experience for Leelee, and she
described how her relationship with him was more comfortable
than she has had with other directors.
"He's very sensitive and he's very nice and he makes you
feel so good about yourself," she said. "He never says,
'Wow, you sucked.'"
Not that other directors have been so blunt, but Leelee
has found some to be selfish or closed-minded.
"They can say, 'Well, try it this way.' Or 'No, no, no,
no. I don't like that idea.' He would never say 'That
doesn't make any sense.' It's not that anybody's ever
said that, but sometimes you can feel it, like 'No, no,
no. I really want it to be done my way.' Instead he would
say, 'Well, give this a try.'"
She said Dahl also creates a relaxed atmosphere on the
set.
"He just does everything in such a way that you don't
feel any pressure. Most of the time when you're working
on set you feel pressure. I've got to get this right,
there's 150 people waiting and if I mess up, I'm gonna
mess up their day and they're gonna have to be here for
an extra three hours. And all of these people are depending
on me and if I mess up it's my fault and I'm gonna screw
up a film and it's gonna be on my shoulders and that's
gonna be the end of everything. When you're working with
him, he really makes you feel like, 'Don't worry about
it, everything's fine' and you just feel so comfortable
and that's really good for your acting because you're
not concerned about it and so then you're good."
"Squelch" will be distributed by 20th Century Fox later
in 2000. |
